


(If you go on) the way you started

by Lerine



Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: A little bit of angst, Action & Romance, Gen, M/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-18
Updated: 2020-06-18
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:15:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24787567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lerine/pseuds/Lerine
Summary: "The night sky was clear, but something in the air seemed different, full of some kind of unresolved tension. It was almost as if the entire world was in fibrillation, waiting for something that would shake it, something new."
Relationships: Eraqus/Xehanort (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 14





	(If you go on) the way you started

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to try my hand at writing Xehanort and Eraqus's past, and I had a couple of ideas so...hope you enjoy this prologue! (Also, I started writing this before Dark Road was announced, so there will inevitably be a lot of differences.)  
> The title is from the song "Wings for Dreamers" by Pogo.

# Prologue - Shooting Star

_ -0 days to the end _

Hands on the ground, he struggles to breathe. His eyes are stinging, and he hopes the boy in front of him can't see the tears that are on the verge of spilling. His body aches, and he restrains a sob that so badly wants to escape from his lips.

He reaches for his Keyblade and grabs it without raising it.

He feels so,  _ so _ weak.

If he could, he would just let himself drop on the ground, crying, letting out all that he’s feeling right now.

But he can’t. He won’t.

"Why..." he says weakly, his voice breaking. He swallows and tries again, "Why...did it end up like this?" He asks.

Is he asking the boy in front of him? Or himself?

He's not sure, and when he raises his eyes to meet the other boy’s, he knows he won't receive an answer.

Instead, he gives him a look that will make him think back to this moment for years to come.

He's sure he can see regret in it, somewhere in those pools of gold that replaced the color he had grown to love in all those years they had spent training and growing together.

He can feel his strength waning, and just as his eyelids begin to close, he calls for the boy one last time:

"Xehanort!"

Xehanort does not turn around, but a whisper escapes his lips.

"I'm sorry, Eraqus."

That is the last thing he hears before exhaustion finally overtakes him and the world goes dark.

* * *

_-1124 days to the end_

The wind had picked up.

The night sky was clear, but something in the air seemed different, full of some kind of unresolved tension. It was almost as if the entire world was in fibrillation, waiting for something that would shake it, something new.

Eraqus turned in his bed for the umpteenth time. He could feel it too. There was an energy that wasn’t letting him sleep that night.

He could hear the wind howling outside, and something about it unsettled him.

He concluded that to keep trying to sleep was useless, and got up. He glanced out of the window near his bed. He could see the other conglomerates of buildings that made up the different parts of Scala.

He had always found it breathtakingly beautiful.

That night, however, the scenery almost unnerved him and at the same time, it was like something was pushing him. He felt the need to go out, to follow that feeling.

He quickly changed into his training clothes and went out of the castle.

As soon as he had set foot outside, the wind hit him hard and for a moment knocked the air out of him. He shielded his face with his arm and waited a couple of seconds until he could finally breathe again.

He trudged on despite the air whipping at him until he was standing on the pier. He looked at the water, the movement of the waves almost mesmerizing.

He wouldn’t be able to tell the reason why, but every time he looked out at the sea he felt like something was calling out to him.

Like a legacy hid deep beneath the clear waters.

His attention was brought back when a flash of light reflected on the water surface caught his eye. He turned his gaze upon the sky, and he saw it. A shooting star.

Something was not right, however. Shooting stars weren’t exactly a rare sight in Scala, but this one seemed different.

For one, the violet light coming from it was like nothing Eraqus had ever seen, and if he looked harder he could almost make out the outline of...a person?

Eraqus followed the “shooting-star” with his eyes until it fell into the water, not very far from where he was standing. He was sure now, that what he had been looking at could not have been a simple star, and without dwelling too much on it, he jumped into the water and swam in the direction of where it had fallen.

Once he had reached his destination he held his breath and dived in.

It took him a second to get his sight accustomed to being underwater, and even so, his vision only cleared out enough for him to make out a body that was slowly sinking.

He quickly swam to reach it, putting an arm around the person’s waist and holding tight onto it.

It was then that something else caught his attention, and he narrowed his eyes trying to identify what exactly he was seeing.

It looked like some kind of building...a tower perhaps?

He could not make out the details of the structure, and besides, he couldn’t waste any more time. Whatever that thing was, it could wait, first he had to go back to the shore.

He resurfaced near the pier, gasping for air. He hauled the other person on it, then climbed up as well.

Now he could finally make out the other person’s appearance.

His  _ shooting-star _ was actually a boy. Probably of his age as well, maybe a year or two older. His hair was silvery white, and he was dressed in black.

Eraqus put his ear on the boy’s chest and listened,

_ “Oh thank goodness, he’s still alive!” _ he thought relieved.

After a bit of struggling, Eraqus managed to put the boy on his back and started walking back to the Castle.

He absentmindedly thought about the “surprise” he was going to give to his Master.

* * *

When Xehanort came to, it was to a completely different world.

He rubbed at his eyes and hissed at the ache in his chest, feeling as if he had a weight pressing down on it. He sat up slowly, just in time for an unfamiliar voice to reach his ears and make him turn.

“Oh! Looks like the shooting star just woke up!”

The voice belonged to a raven-haired boy, with clever grey eyes.

He came closer to him then asked, “How are you feeling? Does anything hurt? You did fall pretty heavily into the water after all!”

Xehanort shook his head no, his chest already feeling better a bit better.

He was still trying to make sense of everything.

He remembered leaving his home, the Destiny Islands, behind. But where had he ended up?

And what was all this about him falling into the water?

“That’s great! Oh right, my name’s Eraqus, by the way! What’s yours?” he asked.

Xehanort had to restrain a chuckle. The boy reminded him of an overly excited puppy.

“Xehanort,” he said finally.

Eraqus gave him a huge smile, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Xehanort!”

He smiled in response. If he had to be completely honest, he was feeling a little excited himself. After all, this is what he had always wanted.

And it was also his first time meeting someone who wasn’t from the Islands.

“So, what happened exactly?” he asked.

Eraqus a hand on his chin and recounted to Xehanort what had happened.

“Well, to make a long story short, yesterday night I was standing by the pier when I noticed a shooting star passing by. Turns out it was actually you,” Eraqus gestured at him, “and you fell straight into the water, so I got you out and brought you here.”

Xehanort nodded, “And where would “here” be?”

Eraqus smiled and went to open the window near Xehanort. He motioned for him to look outside and Xehanort did.

“We’re in Scala ad Caelum,” he said, then with a more serious tone of voice, almost as if he was trying to imitate someone, he continued, “The nexus from which all worlds spring and a seat of power for all Keyblade wielders!”

Xehanort’s eyes widened both because of Eraqus’s words and because of what he was seeing.

White buildings reaching for the sky, the ocean encompassing everything and skylines connecting them. So this was Scala ad Caelum. This was his future.

It was...incredible.

After a couple of seconds, Eraqus turned back to face him again.

“So, what do you think?” he asked, a huge smile on his lips.

Xehanort turned as well. For a moment, he got distracted by that smile that seemed to radiate light.

Now that he was paying more attention, he noticed that all of him seemed to emanate a warm light.

“It’s...beautiful,” he said.

Yeah, they both were.


End file.
